Despite its somewhat gloomy reputation, Berlin is an undeniably green and often surprisingly picturesque city. Its huge parks, tree lined streets and scenic canals are evidence of that.

One of the city’s most beautifully manicured grounds—the Britzer Garten—lurks in the suburbs of Neukölln. The 90-hectares of pristine nature was voted one of Germany’s top-ten most beautiful gardens back in 2002 and the highlight of its season comes at the end of August when over 10,000 Dahlias come into bloom. At the end of April its the tulips that steal the show as they come into bloom in their hundreds of thousands along the 2km spring trail.

For the green-fingered amongst you, there isn’t anywhere better to escape the confines of the city. Grab your camera, throw on some sensible shoes, furnish yourself with a gourmet picnic and head southeastwards into to the expanses of spring bulbs, meandering trails and gigantic windmills.